H2O: Just Add Magic
by MiniBlackRaven
Summary: The girls begin to take hold of their magic when a new mermaid from another country comes to town.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey readers. Apparently you have taken an interest in this story since you clicked on the link. Just to give you some fore warning there is an OC character in this story. I don't know if it's a Mary Sue or not, I haven't been on fanfiction in a long time. Also, I am writing this for me. Yes, I am being selfish. I don't care if you review or not, but I do care if you flame. Last thing; don't look forward for updates anytime soon. I'm really bad with updating on a regular basis because of my private life. Yes, I actually have a private life. Hope the story is interesting.**

-o-

I was halfway through the portal rout and having an awesome time. I had gone shopping in New York City and the Arabic desert, walked along the Great Wall of China, and I had met so many new people along the way. I laughed spinning around in the vortex of pastel rainbow colors. "This is the best vacation ever!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

I hardly ever get a good vacation. My family allows seven weeks together and then one week in our own separate vacation area. Traveling via dimension portal was on the top of everyone's list because you were able to go to so many different places and different times. We had traveled through the portal system before as a family and everyone wanted to do it again on their own. It didn't matter if it was training, shopping, or learning about different cultures we all wanted to have our turn. We drew straws this time to see who would bet to travel, and this time I got the lucky straw.

I began to feel the familiar tug of another world on my body. I relaxed and let the current of the portal pull my body to the next world. Wonder where I'll go this time? Maybe a tropical island, or could be a fashion district in the middle of a major city. Where ever I landed I was going to make the best out of my trip.

The light signaling the entrance to a new world began to grow. I made my body as relaxed as possible so the transition wouldn't be too turbulent. Zoop! I entered the world. I could feel my molecules rearranging to adapt to the new environment and yet at the same time be somewhat connected to my original world. The time in this new world seemed slower than my home world. That I meant could stay longer and not miss out on too much. My legs began to tingle from all the excitement. I let out a whoop as I exited the portal and entered the new world.

I saw blue all around me and light filtering in from above. Everything looked so pure and beautiful. The sun streaming down from above, the clear blue sky, even the cute little tropical fish swimming about the coral were beautiful. Eh. Fish?

I pulled at my hair and saw it had turned blue and flowed down to my hips. Well, almost. Where my hips and legs should have been was now a long, smooth, shimmering fish tail. I had turned back into a mermaid without even noticing it. I panicked and looked for a place to hide. I dived for a shallow kelp bed and tried to blend in as much as possible.

I sat there cowering hoping no bounty hunters had seen me until a fish bumped against my "rump" or where my rump should have been. I popped up and shooed the fish away. That's when it hit me, the kelp was too shallow for me to hide in and, the most important fact, there were no wanted posters around. I swam up a little and double checked for wanted posters. Nothing.

I was free. I was actually free for one in my life I was free for all that hunting. I didn't have anything to worry about anymore!

"I'm FREE!" I cried out with glee. I began to laugh uncontrollably and swim around the coral scaring off all the little fishes as I went along. I didn't care. For once in my life I have an entire ocean to myself without having to worry about that stupid prince and his stupid wanted posters and that stupid marriage agreement that my stupid step-parents wanted. I was free and I was loving it.

-o-

Nearby a golden mermaid with dark brown hair was leisurely swimming around Mako Island. She moved slowly but deliberately enjoying the peace and quiet of the ocean. Now wasn't the time for homework or dealing with her little sister. Now was the time to be together with her boyfriend.

Lewis swam up silently behind his girlfriend and taped her gently on the shoulder. Cleo turned around and smiled at her boyfriend. They took each other's hand, happy to be together at last. Cleo pulled Lewis to her favorite spot in the vast ocean coral. She had almost forgotten how perfect the world could be when Lewis was around. She had missed him immensely when he was with Charlotte, missed him more than she would ever admit.

Looking over the ledge into a shallow chasm were thousands of colorful tropical fish, all doing cute fish things. Lewis looked at Cleo her eyes twinkling with excitement and awe. Before he could stop himself he took out his snorkel and gave Cleo a watery kiss on the cheek. She turned and blushing gave one back to Lewis. Lewis inserted his snorkel back in his mouth and pointed up. He need more air. Cleo gave a nod and began to surface when she heard a faint sound in the distance. It wasn't like the usual dolphin laugh it was something different. She looked up and saw Lewis had already surfaced. She looked back to where the sound had come from before joining her boyfriend.

"What took you so long?" asked Lewis jokingly.

"I heard something," replied Cleo. Lewis cocked his head in curiosity.

He thought more a moment before asking, "Want to go check it out?"

Cleo grinned. "Okay, try to keep up." She dived back down with Lewis close behind. She took his hand and began to swim as fast as she could toward the strange sound.

They had only swum a few meters when they both heard the sound again. But this time it was different. It sounded like someone was singing. Cleo looked at Lewis, and he gave her a nod as if to say "It's fine. Go ahead." They swam on.

There, in the middle of a small kelp bed, was a blue mermaid. She was signing for joy at the top of her lungs and doing all sorts of interesting twists and turns in and out of her surroundings. Her blue hair and light blue tail seemed to be one flowing and turning to and fro as if there was no such thing as gravity.

Lewis let out some air bubbles by accident which snapped the blue mermaid out of her trance. Her eyes filled with terror looking at her two onlookers. Cleo put up her hand as if to say wait, but it was too late. The mermaid bolted off into the mess of rocks and fish. Cleo chased after the mermaid, but was too slow. The blue mermaid raced in and out of the rocks at a rapid pace, while Cleo swam steadily behind. Cleo knew she could outrun this new mermaid, but she would have to know where exactly she was going. The way the blue mermaid was weaving around obstacles and constantly changing direction, there was no way that Cleo could catch this new mermaid.

Cleo lost visual contact with her prey for just a second and became completely lost. She looked around for a second and then realized that Lewis was nowhere in sight. Cleo panicked and swam back the way she thought she came.

Where Cleo had been previously floating an invisibility spell powered down and a scared mermaid took a long sigh of relief.

Lewis was in his boat packing up from that afternoon's adventure when Cleo surface beside the boat. "Did you catch her?" asked Lewis not looking at his girlfriend.

"No," Cleo looked down in shame. "Lewis, I'm sorry for ditching you. I didn't even realize you were gone until…"

"Cleo, its fine," Lewis replied. "I know you didn't mean it." Cleo still looked disappointed. "Race you back?" offered Lewis hoping to lighten the mood. Cleo let out a small smile and nodded. She dived down back into the water. Lewis started the engine and whispered to himself, "Sometimes I wish I could swim all the way back with you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Fifty two hits, that's the best number of hit's I've had on a story other than my one shot ashtray story. Okay correction, I would like readers to review. I'm trying to practice creative writing so I can do a good job on my book that I plan to publish in the near future, it's not this story. I don't mind criticism like, "You need to improve this and this." But I do mind comments like, "Your writing sucks you b-word!" Hope to hear from you soon, and if I don't that's okay.**

-o-

The blue mermaid swam put to a rocky shore and climbed up on a rock gasping for breath. "Great!" she said out loud even though no one was around. "I get to a new world, think everything's fine and dandy and then, BAM! I get two humans chasing after me for no apparent reason." She calmed down a little so she could use her magic.

Her tail glowed for a moment and then split into two legs. She shook her head back and forth until the long mess of blue hair had shrunk into a brown bob with long blue bangs framing her face. She stood up and looked down at her clothes. Just like before, she wore a denim skirt, white t-shirt, denim vest, and a long silver necklace. Satisfied with the change she leaned against a large rock and played with a blue earring that dangled down from her left ear. There was no matching earring on her right ear.

'Why did I run?' she thought to herself. 'They didn't attack me and I haven't done anything wrong in this world yet. Guess it was force of habit.' She sighed. "And just how do you plan on getting out of this one Coral?" she asked herself.

-o-

"What's so important that you had to drag us out here?" asked an irritated Rikki. The three friends and Lewis were sitting at a booth at the Juice Net Café.

"Trust me it's important," said Lewis

Cleo looked around and made sure nobody was close to them. She leaned forward and explained. "Lewis and I were out by Mako this afternoon."

"No surprise."

"Hush Rikki," scolded Emma.

"Well…" Cleo stated to feel uncomfortable.

Lewis took over. "We saw a mermaid." Emma and Rikki immediately thought of the Charlotte incident.

"Do you know who it was?"

"Did she see you?"

"No and yes," replied Lewis. Emma and Rikki looked at Lewis to explain. "She doesn't look like she's from around here. She didn't look like you guys at all."

"She has a blue tail," said Cleo

"And blue hair," added Lewis.

Rikki shook her. "Who ever heard of a mermaid with blue hair?"

"You tell me," Lewis replied.

"Finnish the story Lewis," complained Emma.

"Right, so Cleo chased the mermaid and I tried to follow, but I wasn't fast enough," explained Lewis

"She was really fast," confirmed Cleo. "I chased her for a while, but I lost her."

"Was she playing with you?" asked Emma.

"I don't think so. She had this scare look on her face didn't she Cleo?" Lewis looked at his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I think she was afraid of us."

"Maybe she's never seen mermaids before," suggested Rikki.

"Rikki, that's just stupid," said Cleo.

"I was thinking you girls could go search for her after Emma get's off of work," suggested Lewis.

"Why?" asked Rikki

Lewis gave Rikki a look, "So we can ask her questions. That's why. Maybe she can explain some questions that haven't been answered."

"You mean questions science can't answer?" said a cocky Rikki

"Hey! Science has come in handy a lot!" Lewis tried to defend himself

"Not when it comes to magic."

"Or mermaids"

-o-

Coral was cooling down at the local mall. Her eyes were closed and her arms were crossed. She was doing her best to meditate, but couldn't concentrate because of the children splashing in the fountain and the hot sun beating down on her. She sighed and walked away frustrated with her situation when a strange force pulled her to a cart vendor where an elderly woman waited.

"May I help you?" asked the woman.

"Um… Yeah I guess." Coral looked around the display. "Do you sell only jewelry?"

The woman chuckled. "Only to those who don't know the true power these jewels can have." She reached up toward Coral's earring. "You have an especially strong jewel right here."

Coral grabbed the woman's writs before the fingers even touched the earring. "You touch that, and you die."

The woman chucked again and took back her hand. "Ah yes. I almost forgot about the rule. Don't touch other magical items that belong to other magical creatures."

"Hard to forget about something like that when you have something of your own," Coral eyed the woman's bracelet which was giving off a strong magical aura. The woman shrunk back in fear. Coral shook her head and her voice lost some of its venom. "I'm not going to take it. I just want to find out why you called me over."

The woman stayed back, but let out a smile, "A favor for a friend." She reached inside the depths of her cart and pulled out three small brown books. Each book had a small stone embedded in the lower right hand corner: a white stone, a red stone, and a purple stone.

The woman grinned as Coral looked at the books with awe, "A favor for three magical friends."

"I'm listening."


	3. Chapter 3

**OMG, thanks for all the reviews everyone. Here's the next chapter. I'll try to be quicker with the next one. **

-o-

"Did you find her?" asked Lewis. He was in his boat trying his best to search from above the water.

"No such luck," Emma replied.

"I didn't see anything on Mako," said Cleo.

"Nothing here," Rikki popped up out of the water.

Lewis exhaled in exasperation. "Let's try again. Meet back at the moon pool in an hour."

The girls nodded in agreement and dove back down, all except Cleo. "Lewis, are you sure were going about this the right way?"

Lewis shook his head. "I don't know Cleo. I just don't know."

-o-

Coral was thinking again. This time she was back in mermaid form swimming toward the strange island she had landed by before. She didn't need any directions; all she had to do was follow the magic. For some reason the island had a strong presence in this world. As she swam she frowned in disgust. 'Don't the magical creatures here know how to control their magic?' she coughed, her lungs irritated by the sense of leaking magic.

As she got closer a current seemed to pull her toward an underwater cavern. She swam in and found a large cave. Cora surfaced and looking up saw a cone like structure that looked like it touched the sky. She looked up in wonder and began to have coughing spasms, more unused magic. She looked around and shuddered. All around her like a thick layer of grey dust was old unused magic. 'What bad housekeeping!' she thought. Casting a cleaning spell she began to gather the magic into a large multicolor ball. 'What type of magical creature would be so sloppy? Ware wolf? No. Witch? No.' a whole bunch of other magical creatures popped into her head, but never a mermaid.

-o-

"Did you find her?" asked Emma as she surfaced in the moon pool.

"No you?" Cleo looked to Rikki

"Not even a trace of a blue haired mermaid."

"Well where could she be? We looked everywhere," frustrated Emma propped her head up on the edge of the pool.

"Um excuse me," a voice from the corner caught the girl's attention. They looked over and saw a girl with blue hair washing a bright blue fish tail. "I know there is no door here, but have you ever heard such a thing as privacy?"

"Oh, sorry," Cleo was about to go back underwater when Emma grabbed her arm.

"Isn't that the mermaid you were talking about earlier?" asked Emma.

"Oh," the blue mermaid looked surprised and slightly embarrassed. "Um… If you will excuse me for a moment," She screamed at the top of her lungs in total fear. The echoing din bounced off the wall long after the mermaid had dived back down into the water. There was another splash before all was quiet.

"What? What's wrong?" Lewis ran in from the land entrance. "Is everybody alright?"

The three friends were huddled together at the edge of the pool in complete shock. "Just about," Cleo said with a nervous smile.

"My hero," Rikki said sarcastically, but was still a bit shaky from the shock.

"I think she went out." Emma was about to pursue the intruder when a voice stopped her.

"Wait, are chasing her so you can kill her?" asked a voice from above.

"Who said that?"

"Are you chasing her so you can get rich?" asked the voice.

"Of…of course not," replied Lewis. "Why would we want to do that?"

"Are you bounty hunters?"

"What?" Rikki looked around in disbelief.

"ARE YOU BOUNTY HUNTERS?" thundered the voice.

The girls huddled together and Lewis backed up toward a wall. "No," squeaked Cleo in a tiny voice.

"Oh thank God," said the voice. The girls looked up and saw the blue mermaid hanging from a wall high above the pool. "I never thought about how I would get down from here." She summoned some water from the pool up toward her. The water flattened out as the blue mermaid let go of the wall to enjoy the comfy water chair.

"Sorry about earlier," she said on her decent down to the pool. "You can never be too careful."

"Ah… About what?" asked a startled Lewis.

"Oh, stuff," the mermaid casually dropped back into the pool and released the chair back into the water. "So, what's up?"

"You were," said Cleo clearly disturbed.

"How did you do that?" asked Rikki looking from the mermaid to the wall where she had been and back at the mermaid.

"I jumped. How else could I have gotten up there without you noticing?" the mermaid said nonchalantly.

"You jumped?" Emma was clearly disturbed.

"Could you do that again?" asked Lewis.

"I could, but won't." replied the mermaid swimming toward the edge of the pool.

"Why not?" questioned Cleo.

"Because I don't want to that's why and besides," she looked up at where she was before, "it's scary to be up so high."

"You're afraid of heights?" Rikki was stunned.

"Maybe I am and maybe I'm not." The mermaid pulled herself up onto the rock and turned around so her body was facing the girls. "Now if you don't mind I'll just finish cleaning my tail from all the pollution, which you seem to be to source of," she said with a cough. "Could you please stop leaking magic? It's bad for my lungs."

"We're not doing anything?" said Cleo looking at the other girls. "Are we?"

"That's exactly the problem; you're doing nothing to contain your magic." She coughed again. "I'm surprised the fish haven't sprouted wings and flown away with all this unused magic around."

"What do you mean by containing their magic?" asked Lewis.

"Exactly what I mean." The mermaid put her tail back in the water, but stayed sitting on the edge of the pool. "Every magical creature is born with a certain amount of magic, even humans, but you're too stupid to access it." Lewis was about to object, but she held up her hand and continued. "Most children are taught at a young age to harness their magic and hold it inside of their bodies. Otherwise magic would be creating chaos in the world. The abominable snowman for example, accidently created by a child who wanted his very own Frosty the Snowman, but didn't have good control over his magic."

"Really?" asked Rikki.

The mermaid shrugged, "That's the rumor."

"I always knew Frosty the Snowman was a bad influence," said Rikki.

"So, what's your story?" asked the mermaid. "Parents died at a young age? Ran away from home? City invaded?"

"No, we're just normal girls."

Lewis laughed, "Yeah, normal girls who turn into mermaids when you touch water."

The mermaid looked at Lewis and then back at the girls. "You're kidding me right? Please tell me you're kidding me."

"Sorry," replied Emma as the girls and Lewis shook their head.

The blue mermaid was clearly traumatized. "Oh, no. No!" She put her head in her hands and fell into the pool. She popped up seconds later in the middle of the water. "How the hell did that happen?"

"Long story short, when the moon is over this pool it makes people turn into mermaids," summarized Rikki.

"So you were born human?"

"Wasn't born any other way," replied Emma.

"Damn it!" she dove down into the water and resurfaced at the edge of the pool. "You know you made my job a hell of a lot harder."

"What do you mean?" asked Lewis.

"Well I just can't leave these girls spilling magic wherever then chose. I need to teach them how to control it." She hopped up on the edge. "Okay girls, out of the water," she clapped. "It's training time."

-o-

"**Are chasing her so you can kill her?" asked a voice from above. "God? Is that you?" asked the author.**

**Something like that happened in my acting class and I couldn't resist putting it in the end.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Next chapter up and I'm off. Delay was caused by two exams and two papers due three days apart. Second paper has been pushed back, but I still have to do it. Wish me luck! Please enjoy and review if you have time.**

-o-

The three girls in human form were standing by the pool with their teacher off to the side. "Okay ladies; show me what you've got."

"You first Cleo," volunteered Emma.

Cleo stepped forward and took a deep breath. Raising her hand she called out to her magic. The water in the pool began to ripple and then flowed upward out of a pool in a snake like shape.

The blue mermaid nodded. "Good, good. How do you use your magic?"

"What do you mean?" asked Cleo.

She was about to release the magic when the mermaid yelled, "Don't release it yet! You release the magic when I tell you." The mermaid calmed down, "Now tell me, how do you use your magic?"

Cleo was obviously having a hard time holding onto the magic and answering the question. "Um… well we use or magic most of the time to protect ourselves."

"That's fine." The mermaid nodded to Emma and Rikki. "Next please."

Emma stepped up and without a second thought froze the water snake in its place. Cleo released her magic relived that she was done.

"Good." The mermaid said with approval. "Next ."

Rikki stepped up to the pool. She concentrated on melting the ice snake, but she tried too quickly. The ice shake melted immediately, liquefying over the girls. Cleo tried to stop the water, but it was too late. The water was almost upon them. The girls covered their heads knowing that the transformation would be soon, but it never came. The girls looked up and saw the water frozen in the air. They looked over at their teacher whose arm was extended as a way of controlling the water.

"Sloppy girl. Very sloppy," the ice melted, but stayed in its frozen position. Using magic the mermaid gathered the water into one giant water bubble and dropped it gently back in the pool. "That is a little something I like to call control which you," she looked at Rikki, "seem to lack."

"How did you do that?" asked Emma.

"I'll tell you later. Now sit down." The mermaid pulled her tail out of the water and sat down on it Japanese style. The girls sat down. "Close your eyes and breathe with me. Inhale…" The mermaid counted to seven, held her breath for seven seconds, and exhaled in seven seconds. "This is a meditation exercise," she explained. "It's supposed to relax your body and make it easier to tap into your magic. Try it."

As she counted the girls practiced the mediation exercise Lewis took detailed notes. The mermaid called over a multicolored object the size and shape of a golf ball and split it into four smaller balls. She placed one in each of the girl's hand and gave one to Lewis signaling him to be quiet. "Now, open your eyes, but try to keep the rhythm," She instructed.

The girls opened their eyes and looked around in admiration. All around the cave were bright shining lights of all shapes and colors. The colors acted like water and blended with each other, but had their own personal pattern. "That is your magic," explained the mermaid. "You can see it now because you are holding a small physical piece of it. Once you let go not only will the magic, but also the ball will disappears from view, however it is still there even if you can't see it."

The girls began to forget the mediation exercise and the colors began to fade from view. The mermaid took the balls of magic away from the girls. "If you lose focus, that's what will happen until you can properly store your magic inside of you." She merged the balls until they were one and placed it back in the corner. "Ready for the next step?"

Lewis watched and took notes as the blue mermaid did her best to teach the girls mediation and control. He watched as the magic around the girls was slowly focused back into their bodies. The longer they practiced the more successful they became at limiting their magical output. Even Rikki who was usually impatient and unruly was able to master meditation after awhile. Eventually the blue mermaid hopped back into the water and called it a day.

"Better hurry home to your family. It's almost 6."

"Are you kidding?" Emma took out her cell phone to confirm the time. "My parents are going to kill me if I'm late for dinner."

As the girls jumped in the water to head back home the mermaid gave them some instructions. "Remember to mediate when you wake up, when you get to school, after school, after dinner, and before you go to bed." She turned around and looked at Lewis. "So, did you learn anything?"

Lewis thought a moment. "Yeah, I learned a lot. Thanks for letting me see all that magic. It was very," he searched for the right word, "enlightening."

"Well thank you for the feedback," she said. "To tell you the truth I've never done that before."

Lewis was shocked. "Then how…"

The mermaid shrugged her shoulders. "A book. Human? Can I ask you a favor?"

"It's Lewis. My name is Lewis."

"Fine LEWIS, would you mind doing a little housekeeping for me?"

"What?"

"Here give me the magic." She stuck out her hand and Lewis put a ball of magic about the size of a marble in her palm. "Now give me your hand." Lewis bent down and put out his right hand. Taking a bit of magic from Lewis' ball the mermaid made a silver ring to go around one of his fingers. Sealing the ball with a blue covering the mermaid handed the magic blue marble back to Lewis.

"Go around town or where ever the girls usually go and release the ball. The ball is made so it picks up any old magic that's lying within one hundred meters of where you release it. When all of the old magic is gone it is programmed to come back to the ring's location so you can take it to the next location. Because of the blue covering you will be able to see the ball even if you're not touching it.

"I would do it myself, but as you can see," she lifted up her tail. "I'm not fit for land at this moment."

"I thought all mermaids could become humans," said Lewis.

"Really?" She was clearly surprised. "I don't know all mermaids could do that, but then again I don't know many mermaids."

Lewis was shocked. "You mean you've never seen a mermaid before?"

"Nope, this is my first time in this region and I really don't count those girls as mermaids," she said as she tried to get comfortable in the moon pool.

"Then how do you know all this stuff about magic?"

"Books, internet, my fire witch friend is a big magic history geek and my other friend know all about magic so I learn from the best."

Lewis shook his head, "Okay, now I'm really curious."

"Not now human," she yawned. "Story time latter, sleepy time now." She floated to the middle of the moon pool and tried to go to sleep. "When did the girls say the magic happens?"

"When the moon is over the top of the cave," Lewis pointed to the opening at the top.

"Dang it." She sunk down, swam to the side of the pool, and pulled herself out. "Not a good idea to be mixing magic on my first night."

"Mixing magic?"

The mermaid groaned. "You ever mix two completely different substances and create something disgusting?"

"Yeah, all the time in chemistry," responded Lewis.

"That's what happens with magic. You mix two or more magic entities that are completely different and the results are usually not good." She rolled onto the sand in front of Lewis. "Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to sleep."

"Are all mermaids this bossy?" Lewis asked.

"Only when I'm grumpy or I want something done. Everything else comes from my roommate." She said with her eyes closed.

"Roommate?" asked Lewis as he was about to leave

She opened her eyes. "You try spending seven weeks with a nasty tempered fire witch and see what happens to you."

"What's a fire…" before Lewis go any further the mermaid summoned a small bubble of water, thrust it at Lewis' mouth, and froze his mouth shut.

"Good night human. I can answer more of your questions tomorrow. That will defrost in about an hour." She said as she drifted off to sleep.

Lewis tried to get out one more question, but the ice around his mouth was there to stay. He mumbled a 'good night' and left for the long trip home to his dinner.

Later that night two hooded figures walked up to Cleo's house. The moon high in the night sky showed the way to the door. The taller of the figures lifted her arm and created a key made of ice. It stuck the ice key in the lock and unlocked the door. With a creek the door swung open and the hooded figures let themselves in. They walked upstairs and opened the door to Cleo's room. Cleo stirred, but didn't wake up. The shorter figure walked around to her dresser and placed a small brown book with a purple stone on Cleo's dresser. They left the house as it was, except the taller figure took some money from the family.

"I saw that," said the shorter figure as they began toward Emma's house.

"I honestly don't care," replied the taller creature. "At least I'm not taking their entire fortune. Just think of it as payment." The short figure grunted with disapproval. "Fine, I'll pay them back later." The taller figure gave in. "Just until I can get a job and fun stuff like that."

"I could have given you some money for those pretty pearls you had."

"What? No way, I may not like the guy, but that doesn't mean I hate his presents."

"Saving it for a rainy day?"

"You could say that."


	5. Chapter 5

**BLAME THE HOMEWORK!!!!! THE HOMEWORK IS EVIL!!! And I had to draw eight pictures on a school day.**

… **Next chapter is UP! … The cake is a lie.**

-o-

Lewis was sitting on the grass at school when Rikki dropped a brown book with a red gem on the cover in front of Lewis. "What is this?" she asked.

"What?"

"This book, I found it in my bag when I got to class." Lewis picked up the book and tried to read the pages. "All that stuff about magic and spells has to be you."

"Spells?"

"In the book. It's got all kinds of spells on every page."

"What's going on?" asked Emma joining the group.

"Lewis thought it would be funny to put a mythological book about magic in my bag."

"You mean this book?" Emma pulled out a book that looked exactly like Rikki's book, but with a white stone embed in the cover.

"Hey, I have the exact same book." Cleo walked over and pulled out her book that she had found that morning.

"Where did you get them Lewis?" asked Emma.

"I didn't get them anywhere." He handed back the book to Rikki. "I can't even read it."

"You can't?"

"No, it just looks like a bunch of weird lines to me."

"What's that?" Zane arrived to pick up Rikki for school. Zane took the book for Rikki's hands and opened it. "An unused diary?"

"What do you see?" asked Emma.

"A bunch of blank pages, what am I suppose to see?"

"Nothing," said Rikki quite mystified. "Come on Zane let's go. Call me when you find something useful." She said as she walked off with her boyfriend.

"Okay, why can we see what's in the book, but Lewis and Zane don't see anything?" asked Cleo.

"I don't know," Emma was absorbed in reading the strange books. "What do you think about the invisibility spell on page 152?"

"Invisibility spell?" asked Lewis.

"Oh, yeah, I saw that. I actually think the finder's spell is much more interesting," replied Cleo.

"What page is that on?"

"167 I think,"

"Hey let me see," Lewis looked over his girlfriend's shoulder but all that he could see were those strange squiggly lines that meant absolutely nothing to him. "How can you read that?"

"I just look at the page and read," replied Cleo simplistically.

"Can I see your book?" asked Emma. Cleo handed her spell book to her friend who looked at it curiously. "Strange, I can't read your book." Emma opened her own. "But I can read mine. Why is that?"

Lewis shook his head. "I don't know."

'Lewis.' A voice that sounded as gentle as the ocean entered his head. 'Lewis, have you finished cleaning up?'

Lewis looked around and then down at the magical vacuum ball of wonders and said, "Not yet, I have to go a few more places before I'm done."

Cleo turned to her boyfriend clearly confused. "Lewis, who are you talking to?"

'Speak with your mind Lewis. The magic that I gave you will respond to your thoughts and allow me to hear you.'

"The mermaid from last night. She asked me do clean up after you guys." Lewis told his girlfriend.

'Meet me at the island when you're done. I'm willing to answer some of the question you had from last night.'

'Can the girls come too?' asked Lewis trying his hardest to speak with his mind.

'Yes,' replied the voice. 'Oh, Lewis one last thing. Don't try so hard to speak with your mind next time. It makes everything you think louder than you mean it to be.'

'Sorry' thought Lewis trying to be quieter.

'Don't worry about it,' she said with a giggle. 'You have more talent than you know.'

"What can you tell us about these books?" asked Lewis. The blue mermaid, Cleo, Emma, Rikki, and Lewis were at the moon pool with questions buzzing around their heads.

The mermaid took the book and put down her shell comb that she had found earlier that day. When she opened it she cocked her head as if something was wrong. Of course Emma and Cleo could sort of figure it out, but their assumption changed when the mermaid taped her left wrist and said "Egoro Deloro," and taped her finger on the pages. With a pleasing look in her eye she asked, "Is there a seeing spell in the book?"

The girls were unsure how to respond. "I think so," replied Emma.

The mermaid flipped to the front and smiled when she found what she was looking for. "Could you please read this for us Cleo? It's your book so you should have the honor."

Cleo took the book, careful not to get it wet and looked at the page. "I think I need a mirror," she requested.

The mermaid nodded and summoned a thing sheet of water about the size of her forearm. "Hey you, could you make a mirror out of this?" Emma nodded and froze the water into a shiny ice sheet. "Try it now."

Cleo took a deep breath, looked at the pages through the mirror and began to read. "To those who are affected, may you read the pages I see reflected," The air around the moon pool began to whirl around quickly. The water in the pool began to ripple violently and the earth began to shake.

Cleo continued on with a strange look in her eyes. Cleo was there, but at the same time she wasn't. "By the power within me I, Cleo Sertori, will allow these creatures to see!" she said pointing a finger at the mermaid and then Lewis. At the top of her lungs she yelled the words that allowed the magic to work, "Seta va Kuro ki Makara!" Lighting and thunder clapped blinding everyone for a moment. As the sparks disappeared Cleo began to feel slightly dizzy. With a shaky hand she dropped her book on the ground and lifelessly fell down into the pool.

"Cleo!" Lewis dived in after his girlfriend. Emma and Rikki followed suit and with the three of them were able to pull Cleo to the surface. All three of them began talking at the same time trying their hardest to wake Cleo up. "What's wrong with Cleo?" asked a desperate Lewis.

The mermaid shrugged, clearly uninterested. As Lewis and the girls were trying their best to get Cleo out of the water she began to regain consciousness. Her entire body felt sore and she had an enormous headache. The loud voices of people calling her name hurt her ears. She tried to move her arms up to block out the sound, but that only made her feel worse. She groaned in agony as sighs of relief filled the cave.

"Cleo, are you alright?" asked a voice.

"So loud," she mooned in agony. "It hurts." She began to slip away for all the pain and noise and began to rest.

"What happened?" asked Lewis. He was extremely worried about Cleo and furious at the same time because this newcomer was taking the situation so lightly. The blue mermaid shrugged and inspected her nails still obviously uninterested in the situation. "You know something don't you?" She continued to ignore him. He walked over to where she was sitting and grabbed a handful of her blue hair. He jerked it up as hard as he could and was able to lift her up a little off the floor. She screamed and grabbed her head in a failed attempt to ease the pain. "You will tell me what's happened to Cleo or, I swear I will personally make sure your life is a living hell."

She struggled for a few seconds before giving in. "Okay, fine I'll tell you. Just let go of my hair." Lewis released his captive and with a thud the mermaid began to explain. "Apparently Cleo hasn't been practicing the meditation exercise properly. Otherwise she wouldn't have been so badly winded by such a low level spell." She explained rubbing her dorsal.

"That was a low level spell?"

"Medium level actually, but all the fireworks earlier made it look a lot harder that it actually is."

"How hard is the spell?" asked Rikki.

"Actually not that hard, it's an anti-spell from what I can tell. And anti-spells are usually much easier to cast than normal spells. The lighting I suppose is part of the process, but the wind and the water," she shook her head, "definitely not part of the procedure."

"What's and anti-spell?"asked Emma.

"Basically an undo button for whatever spell is in place. Now, from what I remember, to perform a spell properly one must have complete control over one's magic and use their mind to guide the magic through the spell. Does that make any sense?"

"No, that doesn't explain why Cleo's unconscious," retorted Lewis.

"Yes, it does," replied a convinced mermaid. "If Cleo had been practicing the mediation exercise like she was supposed to, she would have had complete control over the spell and not have lost control of her magic like that."

She sighed and summoned a large body of water out of the pool. "Okay, so maybe I was a little pushy. I'll do my best to help her out. Stand back please." She dragged herself over to where Cleo was laying and surrounded her body with the giant water bubble. Cleo's body floated to the middle and the bubble began to gently glow. The mermaid's hand also began to glow as she examined Cleo's body for any trace of an injury.

"How are you doing this?" asked Lewis still worried about Cleo's condition.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure. I've always been able to do this, but I never figured out how. I guess I just think about it and it happens."

"That's reassuring," Rikki said sarcastically.

The glow around Cleo dimmed and the water around her body was removed and placed back in the pool. "She's been drained of most of her magic, but she'll be fine. She'll just need a lot of rest and food and no magic until tomorrow," was the mermaid's medical report.

Emma was puzzled, "I thought you said she was drained of magic?"

"Think of it as if she's giving blood," said the mermaid as she slipped back into the water. "Once she uses it up, that's it for the day. All she can do is rest, eat, and go on with the day as if nothing happened."

"Why, what happens if you go beyond the limit?"

"If you go past the limit and use all your magic," she stopped for a moment and then said in a quiet voice, "you could die."

"Are you kidding me?" Lewis was flabbergasted. The mermaid dipped her head in the water and threw back her hair spraying water droplets all over the place. "Cleo could die because of what you did?"

"If she had controlled her magic she wouldn't be in this situation," she retorted in an angry tone. She calmed down a little bit and muttered, "I said I was sorry. As long as she doesn't just magic for the rest of the day she should be fine." She dived down for a second and surfaced saying, "I'm just going by the common rule book of magic. Maybe your region is different and you don't die if you use too much of your magic."

"There's a common rule book?" asked Rikki.

"Yeah, otherwise all sorts of weird things would happen." She put her arms up on the ledge. "Are you ready to hear the major rules? This is something that you really should know."

"Maybe later," suggested Emma. "I think we're all a little overwhelmed by all the questions you've answered."

The mermaid nodded with approval. "Fair enough, you've all been through a lot today. If you want I give you permission to practice providing you meditate first. Make sure you tell Cleo 'no more magic for today.'"

As the blue mermaid was about to leave the moon pool Lewis stopped her for a minute. "Wait, how did you know Cleo's name?"

"Feh, you think I don't observe what goes on around me? It would be hard not to know her name."

"But apparently you haven't learned ours," defended Emma.

"Then may I ask what I may call you?"

"Emma"

"Rikki"

"Well, Emma, Rikki, it's nice to finally make your acquaintance. Now if you will excuse me I would like to explore the reef before I have to leave this region."

"What's your name?" asked Emma.

The mermaid thought for a moment and replied, "Coral, you can call me Coral," and left with a flick of a tail.

-o-

**That's all Folks! (Looney Tones' Music)**


	6. Chapter 6

**… There's really nothing I can say. The only excuse I can come up with as to why I haven't updates would be because I don't like how the last couple of chapters (I haven't published) turned out. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Please enjoy kuz I don't like it as much as I did before.**

-o-

Later in Cleo's room, the girls and Lewis were watching Cleo devour food like crazy. "So I'm not allowed to use magic for the rest of the day?" Cleo asked between mouthfuls of cold food fresh for the ice box.

"That's what Coral said," replied Rikki munching on a rice crispy bar.

"Are you guys going to practice?" asked Cleo.

"After what happened today I'm a little scared to. What if what happened to you happens to me?" replied a nervous Emma.

"Well that doesn't mean we can't look at the book," offered Rikki, skimming her own book with little interest.

"I wonder what she meant by the 'common rule book'?" pondered Emma, looking at her own book.

"Exactly what I meant," said Coral. The girls looked around, but couldn't find the mermaid. "In here," said the voice. The girls eyes wandered over to an image of Coral inside the fish tank.

"How did you get in there?" asked Rikki in awe dropping her shack.

"It's called scriying," she replied. "At least that's what I was told. I just call this instant messenger," she said laughing at her own joke.

"Hasn't that name already been used?"

Coral shrugged her shoulders, "That's the Internet, this is magic. I'm entitled to name my own spells whatever I want," she said stretching our tail.

"You really don't care, do you?" Lewis looked shocked.

"In my lifetime, I've learned that there are more important things in life than copyright laws." (This is not a reflection of the writer's views)

"So what's this about rules?" asked Cleo. She had been filled in on what happened while she was out, but she was still curious.

"Just basic rules to keep all creatures safe from the devastation magic can cause," replied a chipper coral as she inspected the busy fish tank.

"Little late to prevent deviation," said Emma sarcastically.

Coral chucked. "Trust me, you have no idea how flashy magic can get."

"Enlighten us," challenged Lewis.

"Oh, I don't know. Try lighting storms in the middle of nowhere," suggested Coral. "Or how about flying and throwing fire balls down at innocent civilians, creating giant tsunamis, earthquakes in the middle of nowhere, ice storms in a tropical region, a killer death wind…"

"Okay, okay we get it!" said Lewis raising his hands as if to protect himself from all the information. "Magic can be a bit flashy."

"So what are the rules?" asked Emma trying to get back on topic.

Holding up a single finger Coral disclosed the rules. "Okay, rule number one is no killing with magic."

"That doesn't sound too hard," said Cleo

Coral scoffed, "You'll be surprised how many creatures want that rule to be gone. Rule number two is no big magic."

"That doesn't sound too hard either," said Rikki.

"What counts as big magic?" asked Emma.

"Oh the usual stuff: bringing people back from the dead, messing with the weather, basically anything that messes with the natural order of things. You'll find out what counts as big magic soon enough."

"How?"

"Like I said 'you'll find out eventually'. Process of elimination, practice, that kind of thing. Now the last and most important rule of magic is that you can' fool with other creature's emotions."

"Is that it?" asked Rikki, a little surprised that the rules were so simple.

"Well, there are a few more, but those are more about ethic than actual rules that ban certain spells," muttered Coral as she flipped her fin back and forth.

"Didn't you say something about magic and dying earlier?" Lewis wanted to know exactly how dangerous it would be for the girls to be able to use magic whenever they wanted.

"Oh yeah, that's more of a warning to all magical creatures. Some magical creatures don't have that magic limit, but that's only a few. Actually it's more of an assumption than anything else," the mermaid replied inspecting her nails.

Lewis tried to wrap his head around what the mermaid wad saying. "So, it's assumed that all magical creatures have a limit and if they go past that limit they die."

"More or less," replied the image in the fish tank.

"So have you ever gone past your limit?" asked Rikki interested to see if her teacher had ever failed before.

Coral's eye twitched then the image faded and vanished as quietly as it had appeared.

"I guess that means yes," said Rikki.

-o-

The next day, Lewis was at the mall and getting impatient. Cleo was supposed to show up for their date half an hour ago. He looked at his watched and then checked his cell phone. Still no call from his girlfriend, not even a text. He sighed, 'Guess Cleo's swimming with the girls' he thought. That was the only reasonable possibility why Cleo would not be responding to his calls. Deeply disappointed he got up from the meeting spot and began to walk away. If only he was able to spend more time with her in "that" way.

In his frustration he kicked an empty can into the air. The aluminum container cried out in pain when it landed a few meters in front of him with a loud clank. Lewis just stared at the can as an elderly woman took the time to pick it up. The woman wore dark colored clothes that made her look like a fortune teller.

"I sense much frustration in you child," she said. Lewis just looked at her in confusion. She stepped closer to him and looked in his eyes. "You have someone special who you wish to be with."

Lewis laughed. "Are you trying to tell my fortune? It won't work. Fortune telling is just a big hoax."

The elderly lady smirked. "Really? Then tell me if this is a hoax, your name is Lewis McCartney." The truth stopped the skeptic in his tracks. "You have a girlfriend that is a great swimmer and you want to spend more time with her in the water, but you can't because you're human."

Questions raced through his bamboozled head. Turning around, he faced the woman with a look of confusion. "How did you know that? I didn't tell you my name let alone that I have a girlfriend."

She smiled. "I can't tell you that, but I can give you something to bring you closer to your girlfriend." She walked over toward her cart and beckoned Lewis. He shrugged his shoulders and followed her. He had nothing else better to do so he might as well find out more about this strange woman.

She reached into a secret compartment in her cart and pulled a Hawaiian style necklace with a large green fish scale dangling in the middle of the necklace. "Wear this," she instructed Lewis as she handed him the necklace. "This will allow you to hold your breath five times longer than any normal human."

"Really, how?" asked the skeptic human.

"Magic," she said with a veil of mystery around her voice. "But you can't breathe a word of this to anyone."

Lewis held up the necklace to the light and looked at it closely. It looked like a normal necklace except for the scale hanging at the middle. As he examined it closer he almost felt a strange power embed inside the scale. The green scale shimmered in the sunlight giving off a feeling of great power. A small yellow spark ran along a vein of the scale, breaking him from that trance. "What? Wait, how do you know about…"But by that time the woman and her cart had disappeared without a trace. "Weird."

"Lewis!" Lewis turned around and saw Cleo running toward him.

"Cleo," her simple presence made the tension in his heart disappear. He always felt the most at peace when she was around.

Cleo bent over and tried to catch her breath. "I'm so sorry Lewis. I completely forgot about our date today. I was practicing meditation with everyone, and I got so caught up in it that I forgot. Sorry."

"That's okay," Lewis said. He was just happy that she remembered their date even if she was half an hour late. At least she remembered.

Cleo looked at the necklace that Lewis was holding. "Where did you get that?"

Lewis looked down at the necklace as the scale in the middle sparkled in the sun's strong rays. "Oh this! Yeah… uh… an old lady gave this to me."

"Really?" Cleo took the necklace from Lewis and held it up to his neck. "I like it," she said with a smile.

"Thanks. Hey how's your magic training coming along?"

"Huh? All right I guess," she was staring intensely at the trinket. Something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on it just yet.

Lewis looked nervously at his girlfriend. "Is there a spell in your book that allows humans to breathe underwater?" He wanted to know if what the old woman had said was actually possible.

"I don't know. I left my book at home. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," he said, with a dismissive wave. "Hey, how about going for a swim?"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I want to try something out."

Cleo's smile made Lewis's heart flutter with joy. "Okay," she took his hand and headed down to the boat yard.

-o-

"Are you sure about this?" asked Cleo. They were in the middle of the ocean and Cleo was waiting in the water for her boyfriend. Lewis was going into the water with only his wet suit, flippers, and the necklace the old lady had given him. No snorkel or anything.

He smiled at her with that hundred dollar smile. "I'm sure." And with that he dived in. At first he didn't surface, but when he did all he said was, "Coming?"

Cleo nodded and dove under.


	7. Chapter 7

**MBR: Here's another chapter. Don't know when the next chapter will come out. Maybe in the next two weeks? Tests and projects are beginning to pile up at school. Until then, enjoy the next chapter. Special thanks to everyone who reviewed. And a special shout out to MermaidGirl34. Happy Birthday girl and thanks for all the comments.**

-o-

"You've got to be kidding me," Rikki was staring intensely at the divers watch.

Lewis shrugged. Rikki wanted to rip that smug smile off his face and grind it into tiny pebbles on the floor of café. "What can I say," Lewis said, with a carefree attitude. "You've got the evidence right in front of you, and I've got a witness. Isn't that right Cleo?"

"Cleo?" Rikki's statement was more of a challenge than a question.

Cleo covered in her chair ahs she shrunk away from the glare. Twiddling her fingers, she tried to respond. "Well…"

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Emma, pulling up a chair. She had scheduled for a shift and decided to come in a few minutes early.

"Oh good, someone with a little common sense," said Rikki, with a smirk. Lewis' smile fell as the he clenched his fingers into a ball. Holding out the watch like it was a diseased animal, Rikki asked Emma, "Lewis timed himself to see how long he could hold his breath. What do you think?"

Emma took the watch and read the time aloud. "Twenty seven minutes and eighteen seconds."

"I know," said Rikki, with a hint of sarcasm. "Isn't that-"

"That's amazing Lewis!" Emma's face lit up with excitement.

Rikki wanted to barf. "What?" Out of the corner of her eye, she though she saw Lewis let out a sigh of relief.

"I've never know anyone who could hold their breath for that long," said Emma, pulling up a seat.

Leaning back in his seat, Lewis basked in his secure fame. "What can I say? It's a gift."

"You guys are impossible." Disgusted Rikki got up and left the café.

"What's her deal?" asked Lewis, knowing full well that victory was his.

"How long have you been training Lewis?"

The question caught Lewis off guard. "Training?"

"Yeah, it takes a really long time to get a breath capacity of twenty seven minutes." She leaned forward and asked softly, "So tell me Lewis, how did you do it?"

"Ah- well…" Lewis searched his vast intellect for an answer, but all he could come up with were "ah" and "um" before he gave up and said, "I have to go now." He grabbed the watch and ran out the door. He wasn't about to tell Emma, let alone Cleo, that a magical item he had received form a sketchy woman had bestowed upon him this new ability. And another thing, Lewis realized as he ran away, what in the world made him think that the necklace caused the change.

"Something wrong?" Emma asked Cleo. Her best friend had been silent for the entire conversation.

Cleo looked up and then back down at her hands. "I think Rikki's right." She looked toward the direction Lewis had fled. Reaching down to touch her stomach, Cleo whispered, "Something's not right with Lewis. Don't ask me to explain it, but I've got a really bad feeling."

-o-

'There's got to be a logical reason for all of this.' Thought Lewis was he was getting ready for bed. 'Normal humans don't just suddenly develop the ability to breathe underwater for a … inhuman amount of time. And when did get such a big ego?' As he walked into the bathroom, the lights turned on. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and his eye landed on the necklace he was wearing.

'Nah,' he thought. 'There's got to be a reasonable explanation.' As he turned around to go back to his room his eyes fell on the light switch which was still in the off position. He looked up and saw the light was on even though the light switch was in the 'off' position. He did a quick double take and shook his head. 'Must be something wrong with the power,' he thought as he left the bathroom. As he left, the light turned off.

As Lewis stared blankly at the empty ceiling above, he kept telling himself that there was a perfectly scientific explanation to what was causing all of the strange things. But as he fell asleep Lewis subconsciously knew that it had something to do with the necklace and the strong magic that was embedded inside the trinket.

-o-

Lewis stood at his favorite fishing spot, the giant boulders casting small shadows away from the gentle inviting waves of the ocean. Lewis took a deep breath and assured himself that this was the right thing to do. He had come up with a hypothesis that morning that would hopefully explain both why he was able to hold his breath for so long and why he didn't act like himself around his friends the other day. Like the day before Lewis was wearing the same wet suit, his flippers, and this time his snorkel. The necklace was in his hand.

He waded into the water, took and breath, and went under. Less than five minutes later, he exploded out of the water breathing heavily. "Okay, so the controlled didn't work." He put the necklace around his neck. "Now let's try this."

He dove back under and closed eyes, waiting for something to happen. He expected, almost hoped to run out of air. At first, nothing happened. Then a calm sensation filled his soul. A gentle song seemed to call him out to the sea. Lewis lost mind of his goal for a moment and began to follow the song out to sea.

"No!" he yelled at himself. Lewis's hands few up to his ears, "Focus on the experiment!" he said trying to block out the song. "Focus on the experiment."

The song seemed hurt and faded from Lewis's mind. As he tried to calm down one of his hands brushed against his neck. Something felt weird. Lewis timidly moved his hands to his neck and to his surprise found slits around his neck acting as his lungs underwater. As his breath quicken in response to the surprise, to Lewis's horror he found the slits doing the same.

"Okay Lewis, calm down. There's got to be logical reason why-" A sudden pain in his chest stopped him from finishing his thought. 'No way! A heart attack! Why here? Why now?' He tried to swim back to shore, but the pain had crept down and began affecting his legs. As he crawled back up on the beach, Lewis gasped desperately for air. Acid was eating slowly away at his chest and lungs and it felt like a giant rolling pin was crushing his legs and then striping the ligaments off one at a time. Cautiously he took his flippers off hoping the pain would subside, but that didn't do any good. To Lewis it made the pain in his feet seem even worse than before. His nerves were telling his brain that all appendages were pulling away in different directions. 'Am I going to die?'

The pain in his feet climaxed and Lewis screamed out in pain. He wanted to call for help. In his mind he reached for his cell and call for an ambulance. All sorts of ways to get help whizzed through his mind, but all he could do was scream.

Looking down he saw sis feet stretching longer than any normal human's feet. They turned an algae green and the toes disappeared into webbed appendages. 'What's wrong with me?' thought Lewis. He realized couldn't feel his hands anymore. As the veins inside his hands began to contort in pain Lewis's vision blurred. The last thing he remembered was looking at his hands and thinking, 'What have I become?' After that total darkness.


End file.
